Mr. McMahon (miniseries)

''Mr. McMahon'' is a documentary television miniseries that explores the influential yet controversial career of the professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon. It is directed by Chris Smith, who worked on ''Tiger King'', with executive producer Bill Simmons and Zara Duffy, recognized for her contributions to '' Mission Blue''. The documentary series featured numerous prominent figures from the world of professional wrestling, including Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H. It also included media personalities such as businesswoman Kay Koplovitz, professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer and other key individuals, providing a wide range of perspectives on McMahon's career and legacy. This is the first extensive documentary series focusing on McMahon.

All six episodes of the series were released on September 25, 2024, on Netflix.

Background and release

The production of ''Mr. McMahon'' was shaped by extensive research, interviews, compiling over 200 hours of material. Directed by Chris Smith and Zara Duffy serving as executive producers, the series aimed to provide an in depth exploration of Vince McMahon's career and legacy. Interviews were conducted with McMahon, his family, business associates, wrestling personalities, and journalists; however, McMahon halted further interviews with production following the emergence of allegations of sexual misconduct.

The series was released on September 25, 2024, at 3:01 A.M ( ET), on streaming platform Netflix. The trailer was released on September 5, 2024.

Cast

*Vince McMahon

with

Episodes

Themes

One of the central themes of the series is a discussion about how close Vince McMahon the person is to "Mr. McMahon", the character he portrayed on-screen in the WWE. While Vince McMahon is adamant the two are distinctly different, the vast majority of those interviewed for the series commented they felt they were one-and-the-same, or at least that the character exaggerated personality traits already present in the person. Dave Meltzer of ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' has suggested this was a major source of frustration for McMahon upon his viewing of an advanced screening of the series, and is what led McMahon to denounce the series one day before its release.

Reception

On September 23, Vince McMahon issued a statement on X, describing the documentary as "deceptive" and claiming it was intentionally misleading viewers by creating confusion around key events. Reportedly, McMahon attempted to purchase the rights to ''Mr. McMahon'' to prevent its distribution, aiming to ensure the documentary is not widely seen. However, Netflix declined and the documentary remained scheduled for release.

Writing for ''The Wall Street Journal'', John Anderson noted that Phil Mushnick of the ''New York Post'' described McMahon as a "dirt bag", and encourages viewers to evaluate the portrayal of his scandals. Anderson suggests that Smith offers a relatively honest portrayal of McMahon, with insights from figures like Hulk Hogan and John Cena on his enigmatic personality and the parallels between wrestling and contemporary politics.

Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, who participated in the series, generally praised it upon release, feeling that it contained no major inaccuracies or embellishments aside from the recounting of Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant at WrestleMania III. Meltzer did, however, feel that in episode 3, more emphasis should have been given to the fact that Bret Hart had creative control of his character in WWF, and that this was an important aspect in understanding why the Montreal Screwjob was so controversial. One exclusion Meltzer observed was that in episode 2, it is not shown that Linda McMahon received a tip-off that George Zahorian, who was supplying the WWF locker room with steroids, was under investigation, and subsequently that person was not hired to be a staff doctor. This helped Vince McMahon avoid conviction in the steroid trial.

Writing for BBC, Manish Pandey and Riyah Collins observed that while the six-part documentary provides a "fairly honest portrait" of Vince McMahon's career, it struggles to offer new insights, due to his withdrawal from filming following serious allegations. They noted the film's portrayal of McMahon, his influence on the wrestling industry and controversies inside the WWE particularly its depiction of women during the Attitude Era. It also noted the theme of McMahon's role as a father figure within the WWE.

Alex Reid from ''The Guardian'' rated the documentary three out of five stars, praising its editing and research and depiction of the history of the WWE, but noting that it felt like a "missed opportunity" due to the absence of key figures, including its lack of interviews with the women who accused McMahon of sexual assault.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Mr. McMahon'' has an approval rating of 67% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Mr.
2020s American documentary television series
2020s American television miniseries
2020s in professional wrestling
2020s American sports television series
Netflix original documentary television series
Professional wrestling documentaries
WWE controversies